Next Chapter Meetings

Meetings are at 7:00 PM at the Barry Township Hall on Orchard Street in Delton on the second Wednesday each month, and are open to the public.   For directions and a map, click here.

Our next meeting is January 14.  Katie Brandt will discuss ground water pollution and avoiding it, including during trail building and camping situations.

February 11 will feature John Gorentz on “Travels with Noonday”, a history of Chief Noonday, who lived in this area, and is the source of our Chapter’s name.

March 10, Katie Brandt will return with a presentation on spring plantings, and ways to add to the beauty of the North Country Trail. 

Work Session January 17 (Battle Creek) 

For the January 17 work session, we will be working in the Kimball Pines County Park and Bridge Park area.  We will meet for breakfast at the McDonalds on 1160 Michigan Avenue East at 8:00am, and then heading to the back parking area of Kimball Pines at 9:00 am.  Contact Tom Garnett with any questions at 269-382-2561, or by email at GarnettT@trinityhealth.org.  We would like to thank Tom Garnett and John Rudnicki for their contributions during the last work session in November.

Winter Hike Leader Wanted

We are looking for a volunteer to set up and lead the winter hike to be held sometime in late January or February.  Please contact Tom Garnett (see number above) if you are able to help.

Work Crew Leader Wanted

We have been building and maintaining trail without a crew leader for some time now, but that position is still open and we need a candidate.  Please contact Tom Garnett on this opening. 

New Kiosk Installations In Progress

Cory Lowry has taken as his Eagle Scout project to design, construct, and install 5 kiosks for our Chapter.  He and his troop have begun the installations at Fort Custer Cemetery (2), the Hutchinson parking lot (2), and the Hall Lake parking lot.  More details later on the status of this project, and Cory’s assistants.

Chief Noonday Board Meeting December 6

Our Chapter board met on December 6 to review plans for the coming year, and we have a lot on our plate.  We have received Field Grants from the North Country Trail Association (NCTA) for: 1) the Hutchinson parking lot gate, 2) a new brochure for the southern portion of our Chapter, and 3) an upgrade and reprint of our current brochure, which focuses somewhat on the north and middle portions of our Chapter’s area of responsibility.  Tom Garnett is handling the bulk of items 2 and 3, and is soliciting your input on upgrading the current brochure.  A copy has been given to all members since it was printed, but it is also available from our chapter web site by clicking here.  Please contact Tom via email or phone as noted in the above article.  (I should note Tom’s initial design of this brochure has received a lot of favorable attention within the NCTA and its chapters, and we are grateful for his efforts on this.)

One other area we will be focusing on in 2004 is to improve the ability to find our trail and information about our trail, via road signs, kiosks, and displays.  The kiosks in the northern portion of our chapter have proved very useful, and our plan is to expand their use, especially in the southern portion.  This will require a lot of coordination with local authorities, and then installation by our work crew, or in some cases by Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT).  A portion of the cost of this project will be furnished via Cost Share money from the National Park Service, which funds projects based on our submitted volunteer hours, as well as the merits of the projects.

Additionally we are working on new trail opportunities for construction next year, and projects on existing trail, including a small parking lot on 39th street at the north end of Kellogg Biological, and installation of the interpretive materials at the Hutchinson parking lot.   On other fronts, our interpretive project continues to gather information, and its leaders are planning to begin in-depth exploration of a new section of trail next year.

We do not have a monopoly on good ideas for improving our chapter.  Please let someone on the board know your ideas for improving our chapter, and our trail.  You can also share your opinion by clicking here!

Interested in being a Newsletter Editor??

Larry Pio's  term of newsletter editor is about to expire due to employment (ouch), and if you have an interest in handling our newsletter, Tom Garnett would like to hear from you.

Hikes in December and January, NCTA

Here are some extra hiking opportunities as seen on the chapter events page of the North Country Trail Association web site (click here, and note the green and blue entries):

• The Grand Traverse Hiking Club has a 5 mile hike on December 20; call Dick at 231-946-7098.

• The Grand Traverse Hiking Club has an 8 mile cross country skiing trip on December 26; call John or Lois at 231-938-9655.

• The Tittabawassee Chapter is traveling to the Eastern UP for a backpacking trip beginning December 30, and ending January 2.  Contact Lyle at lab@glis.net.

• The Buckeye Trail Association, an affiliate, is hosting a hike near Akron, OH at the Big Bend Trailhead on January 3.  Contact Phyllis Devlin at 330-864-8872 for more info.

• Spirit of the Woods chapter is also hosting a winter backpacking overnighter at Bowman Lake on January 10-11, or you can do a day hike with the group on Saturday only.  Reservation required.  Contact Joan Young for more info at jhy@t-one.net.  There are 6 additional hikes or ski trips scheduled in Michigan in January or February on the list so far.  You get the idea. 

New Members

The following are new members of our Chapter; please join me in extending a welcome to all of them:

• Dawn Carson – Lansing

• Daniel Fearn – Vicksburg

• Jean Goldner – Augusta

• Ronald and Kay Griffith – Middleville

• Eric Longman – Caledonia

• Carole Stevens – Kalamazoo

UP Map Now Available

The NCT office in Lowell announces a new 1:100,000-scale topographic hiking map, Mackinac Bridge to Whitefish Bay Scenic Byway (MI-08), is now available for purchase.  The trail segment covered by this map begins at the Mackinac Bridge and continues through the entire Eastern Unit of the Hiawatha National Forest.  The map covers 81.3 miles of trail and is in full color.  You can purchase the map for $3.50 by calling Headquarters at 1-888-454-6282 or online by clicking here.

The web site for the North Country Trail Association is: www.northcountrytrail.org The web site for the Chief Noonday Chapter is: www.northcountrytrail.org/cnd and all our previous newsletters are online here thanks to Gail Speer, our webmaster.

Best wishes for a safe and happy holiday season.

Newsletter Editor:  Larry Pio   nalcoman1@aol.com